Ralph bulkley



iIFFICE.

RALPH' BULKLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE-PRESERVER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,595, dated May 8, 1840.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RALPH BULKLEY, of the city of New York, Sta-te ofNew York,

. have invented a new and Improved Mode of Protection to Persons Exposedin Vater, called the New York Patent Metallic Life- Protector, and dohereby declare thatV the following is a full and exact description.

My invention consists in providing persons individually exposed in waterwith metallic floats, so applied under their arms as to sustain andpreserve the person properly balanced in the water.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation, to wit.

The floats are to be made of thin sheet metal in a tubular or othershape, hollow and air tight, the dimensions of the same to depend uponthe extent of buoyancy required, and the shape depending partly onconvenience of towage in places in which they are to be carried andpartly on convenience of securing them to the person for use.

In regard to its operation I will describe one or a pair of supposedsuitable dimensions for a grown person, to wit: For application underthe arms of a person to consist of two tubes about two feet in lengthand about six inches in diameter at the ends, tapering from the two endsto the center to about one and a half or two inches in di ameter, asshown at letter a in the accompanying drawing. This smallest part isthat which is placed under the arms, secured by a strap as shown atletter b in the drawing. The floats are to be secured to the person bymeans of a belt or jacket, as shown at letter A, containing shoulderloups as shown at F ig. 2. Straps and buckles for securing it in frontof' the person7 as shown at Fig. 3. Straps and buckles for tightening orloosening it in the back, as shown at Fig. 4:. Foo-t pieces with strapsextending upward, secured by buckles as shown at Fig. 5, for givingrelief to the feet, as also a reh lief of a portion of the pressure fromthe arms.

The advantage of floats of this or nearly similar form, consists intheirextending in front and rear forming in addition to their buoyancy alever purchase or bearing upon the water, to prevent the person fromcanting in the water, the smaller part being under the arms, operatingas a pivot on which the extreme ends move upon the ruffled surface ofthe water.

The sheet metal of which the floats are composed, particularly whenconsisting of' tin, may be coated with japan, paint or other substanceimpervious to water, in orber to prevent corrosion or imperfections towhich thin sheet metal is liable. And t-he above improvement as hereindescribed is believed to differ from all other improvements in use.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the air-tight tubes with the belt in the manner andfor the purpose described.

RALPH BULKLEY.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH BULKLEY, EZRA SMITH.

